James English and Yolanda Williams are running against each other for the Omaha Public Schools’ Subdistrict 1 seat.
A retired OPS school teacher, English’s focus is on improving elementary education. He also favors a citywide curfew for kids as well as schools reaching out to parents when students are not attending school.
Williams coordinates mentoring programs for Partnership 4 Kids, a non-profit. She says it’s time to identify and implement the things the school district does right.
Williams says students need to be comfortable with new technology. She also thinks the district needs to find ways to close the achievement gap.
Both candidates have had run-ins with the law in the past, Williams for a domestic dispute and English for drunken driving.
English and Williams both say they learned a lot from these past incidents and they each believe what they’ve learned has made them better people.
Subdistrict 1 in north Omaha is an area that has high poverty and crime rates.
The General Election takes place May 14th. For more information, the website is votedouglascounty.com.